“I remember being a teenager watching porn searching for hours to find a well shot tasteful scene of two black people having sex and I simply couldn’t. I noticed the stereotypes that affected everyone but white men.”

I was absolutely blown away by Aaron and this interview. He is such a rare person – making incredibly beautiful, ethical, sexual, introspective and powerful work that captures BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) people in ways we hardly ever see in erotica. Finding representation of someone that looks like you, or that you can identify with, is so much harder if you identify this way and Aaron saw this gap in his own life and decided to do something about it – make the content he was longing to see. Not only that, his Instagram is itself a beautiful, safe, positive space that let’s his followers engage in conversations about shame, acceptance, love, feminism and more. A massive round of applause for Aaron, one of my new favourite people, and the latest addition to my collaborators on XConfessions – whose images I use to illustrate your sexual fantasies and confessions!

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Hi Aaron! Tell me a little about yourself 🙂

Heyy, hmmm let’s see. Well I’m 27 years old. I’ve been doing photography for almost three years now. I’ve always wanted to do what I’m doing now. I remember being like 15 years old thinking about how awesome it would be to able to show people real moments of sexuality capturing real bodies and real emotions evoked from passion. I never actually thought I would do it haha but life has a way of bringing out what’s inside of you if you ignore it long enough.

What made you want to collaborate with XConfessions?

I’ve actually been a fan of Erika Lust’s work and XConfessions for years but I never knew who was behind it. I came across short video clips of these real well shot and thought out scenes of people having sex and I was so happy because I’d never seen it before and didn’t know that anyone was even doing it. The message behind the work is what actually made me really want to support it though, even more than the visuals. It had a purpose. It had a calling. And being an artist with a purpose myself I totally connected with that. It was what I had always wanted to see. When I saw the call to collaborate with different types of artists I just had to jump at the opportunity. To be completely honest I didn’t think I would even be noticed but luckily my followers helped me out a bit haha!

I love your work a huge amount. It’s so positive and rare – which is a shame, we need more work like yours! Why did you start taking erotic pictures?

Thank you! Yes I agree 1000% it is rare and that’s saddening to say the least (also a bit frustrating). I started taking erotic pictures because I felt heavily that the world needed to see more real bodies. I understood the correlation between the images that are forced into our heads and the insecurities that so many people had. I understood that the reason that sooooo many people had jacked up ideas of sexuality were because they were learning everything from mainstream porn. Even deeper than that I felt that because we are taught about sex in such a negative way from religion and society the messages relayed in most porn only added to those negative messages. I want to change that. I believe strongly that if people see sex and nudity in a real, open, honest, tasteful, respectful, and loving way they will be able to see the beauty and power in it.

I like how your Instagram is also a space to talk about sex, identity etc. How did this happen?

The reason behind my work has always been to help people and I think a great way to do that is show people that they aren’t alone. Sooo many people have deeper issues simply because they’ve never been given space to talk about how they feel or what they think. I wanted to create that safe space for people. Whether through talking to me directly or simply commenting on a post and interacting with other followers. I wanted to open up conversations so that others could read the answers to learn and see what other people are really going through and experiencing.

I struggle to find erotic work, on Instagram especially, of BAME people. There is a plethora of whitewashed erotica though. Have you noticed this at all?

Oh absolutely, it annoys the heck out of me because it sends a message that all of us are affected by. I remember being a teenager watching porn searching for hours to find a well shot tasteful scene of two black people having sex and I simply couldn’t. I noticed the stereotypes that affected everyone but white men. I noticed how even if I found a nice video of a real couple of color the title was so degrading. The lack of representation of BAME people is also a MAJOR reason behind my work. Even in the growing community of feminist porn and tasteful adult erotica I still see a huge lack of representation for people of color.

Do you see politics in your work?

Ehhh I believe so but the word politics has so many different meanings to different people. I do see a paradigm shift in my work. I try to convey messages that could enlighten and uplift people. I want my work to start conversations and bring forth dialogue that opens people eyes and minds.

What’s in the future for your work?

Well I’ve recently been getting into video. After 2 and a half years of only photos I released my intro teaser film on my Patreon page about two months ago and I have so many ideas for upcoming videos that I would like to create. Also I have a book coming out in a few months that I am very very excited for. Down the road I see myself getting into doing more public speaking about sexuality, intimacy, and the thought processes that hinder all of us from connecting with our true sexual nature. I also would like to do more live events, gallery showings, more books, more videos, just all around expansion.

If you could describe yourself in one image, what would that be?

One image? Gosh this is tough lol.

Did you ever find a good visual representation of an orgasm?
Oh yes! I’ve actually captured a few beautiful orgasms. Here is one of my favorites..